Women's Soccer Hosts First-Place Army in Key PL Showdown on Alumnae Day at Emmitt Field

Saturday, October 24

Lewisburg, Pa.

1 p.m.

Bucknell University

Army

Photo by: Steven Schoenfelder

10/21/2026 4:42:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Army West Point (8-6-1, 5-0-1 PL) at Bucknell (6-6-3, 3-1-2 PL)
When: Saturday, Oct. 24, 1 p.m.
Where: Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Happenings: Alumnae Weekend; a large contingent of alumnae will be back in Lewisburg, including several from Bucknell's historic 2001 championship team that is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

About the Bison

Bucknell looks to bounce back from its first Patriot League loss of the season last Friday at Navy when first-place Army visits Emmitt Field. The Bison are 3-1-2 in league play and sit in a tie for third place with Loyola on 11 points. Army (5-0-1) leads the way with 16 points as it looks to defend its 2025 league title, with Navy (4-1-1) second with 13. Holy Cross (3-2-1, 10), Lafayette (3-3, 9), and Boston University (3-3, 9) are all jockeying for postseason seeding.
The top six teams qualify for the Patriot League Tournament, and the top two earn byes into the semifinals. Since the tournament expanded to six teams in 2013, no team with 12 or more points has missed the postseason, and only three times has a team with 11 points been left out.
Bucknell not only ran into a tough Navy team on the road last week, but also some tough weather conditions. Coming out of halftime in a 0-0 deadlock, the Bison suddenly had to play straight into heavy winds and a sideways rain as a storm came through. Bucknell held on to the tie all the way into the 83rd minute before conceding a penalty, and Chiara Cosenza scored from the spot to give Navy the 1-0 win.
Bucknell has been carried by its defense in recent weeks and enters the Army game third in the Patriot League in goals-against average at 1.07. Since conceding three first-half goals at Towson on Sept. 6, Bucknell has given up only three goals in its last seven contests, and all three of those were on penalty kicks. The defense has now gone 677:25 – more than 11 hours of game action – without giving up a goal in the run of play. That five-game run includes a scoreless tie against No. 23 Villanova, which is still unbeaten on the season, followed by the first six Patriot League matches.
Freshman goalkeeper Sarah McFarland has notched three Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week citations along with one Rookie of the Week honor. Seven different Bison have combined to capture 10 Patriot League weekly awards this season.

Bucknell 2026 Patriot League Players of the Week
Aug. 17 – Ingrid Murphy (Rookie)
Aug. 24 – Presley Sutter (Forward)
Sept. 14 – Clare Nemsick (Defender), Sarah McFarland (Goalkeeper & Rookie)
Sept. 21 – Louisa Thomsen (Midfielder)
Sept. 28 – Emma Gavin (Defender)
Oct. 5 – Sarah McFarland (Goalkeeper)
Oct. 12 – Gaby Parker (Forward), Sarah McFarland (Goalkeeper)

McFarland has six shutouts on the season, the most ever for a Bucknell freshman goalkeeper and just one off the national lead. Only Iowa's Braelynn Gait, Marquette's Mia Hurd, and Oral Roberts' Alyson Sebban have more with seven among all Division I freshmen.
Caitlyn Scott has been an impactful addition to the starting lineup. The senior made her first career start against No. 23 Villanova and shined in a scoreless draw against the high-scoring Wildcats. Scott has played the full 90 minutes in each of the last seven games in a holding center midfield position. Nemsick, Gavin, and Julia Palitti have all been outstanding on the back line.
Ingrid Murphy has been an offensive catalyst in her rookie season. She leads the team and ranks seventh in the Patriot League lead with four goals, and she is eighth in the league lead in points with 10.
Gaby Parker, who is tied with Army's Kamryn McWhinney for the league lead in shots with 43, has three goals and three assists on the season, while Presley Sutter and Louisa Thomsen both have two goals and three assists. Dani Howard, Katie Connell, and Tennessee Murphy also have two goals, and Clare Nemsick is tied for the team lead in assists with three.
The Bison have outscored opponents 20-16 on the season, with the 20 goals coming from nine different players. Sixteen players have registered a point.
After the scoreless draw at No. 23 Villanova, McFarland was named to the TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week, and her spectacular diving save in the 89th minute was selected as the IWOC National Save of the Week.
The Mount St. Mary's win on Aug. 20 was career victory No. 100 for head coach Kelly Cook, who is now in her 12th season on the Bison sideline. Six of her previous 11 have resulted in a Patriot League regular-season or tournament championship. With a 104-77-36 career record, Cook is Bucknell's winningest women's soccer coach.

Army at a Glance/Series History

The Black Knights got out to a 2-6 start against a tough non-conference schedule, but they have been impenetrable since then. After allowing multiple goals in seven of those first eight matches, Army has pitched seven straight shutouts dating back to a 2-1 loss to Boston College on Sept. 6.
The shutout streak started with its final non-league game against Cornell on Sept. 10, and now Army has outscored foes 14-0 in Patriot League play. The Black Knights' only dropped points came in a 0-0 draw with rival Navy in Chester, Pa., on Sept. 9
Last time out, Army walloped Lafayette 4-0 with two goals in each half. Freshman Kamryn McWhinney padded her Patriot League goal-scoring lead with her eighth of the season early in the second half.
McWhinney recorded braces in wins over William & Mary and American, and more recently has goals in three of the last four games. Bella Conti has four goals, Maddi Woodward has three, and Sophia Henry, Sabrina Rogers, and Makaela Morrell have two each.
Karalyn Dail has started all 15 games in goal and played all but four minutes this season. The junior is in her second year as a starter and has 68 saves with 21 goals against in 2026.
Army was picked as the preseason favorite in the Patriot League, and Conti was named Preseason Forward of the Year.
Army won the 2025 Patriot League Tournament as the No. 3 seed. After beating Loyola 3-1 at home in the quarterfinals, the Black Knights went on the road and won one-goal games from No. 2 Colgate (2-1) and No. 1 Boston University (3-2). Army then fell 3-0 at Penn State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Bucknell is 17-22-5 against Army in an all-time series that dates back to 1991.
Army is 5-0-3 in the last eight head-to-head meetings, but two of those official ties came in the 2022 and 2023 Patriot League Tournament finals, which Bucknell went on to win in penalty kicks at West Point.
Bucknell's last official win over Army came in 2018, a 3-1 result that capped a string of five straight Bison wins in the series. All three Bison goals in that win came on corner kicks, two from Holly Burns and another on an own goal.
Bucknell is 3-4-3 all-time against Army in the Patriot League Tournament. In addition to the 2022 and 2023 PK shootout wins, the Bison also won 3-1 in the 2005 title match.
Army won 4-0 last year at Clinton Field behind two goals from Brigid Duffy and one each from Cami Silvestro and Sophia Henry. It was just a 1-0 game at the half, but Duffy scored 46 seconds into the second period to send the Black Knights on their way.

The Road Ahead

Bucknell rounds out the regular-season home slate next Saturday against Colgate at 1 p.m. It will be Senior Day at Emmitt Field, and captains Julia Palitti and Dylan Zednik along with Riley Hayes, Ashley Kozlowski, Lily Moraller, Caitlyn Scott, and Carleigh Robertson will be recognized before the game.